Woman accused of stealing up to $70K from 80-year-old mother

Halifax Media Service

Monday

Mar 10, 2014 at 12:01 AMMar 10, 2014 at 7:13 PM

Incident allegedly took place in Carteret County

BEAUFORT - A Beaufort woman made her first appearance in Carteret County District Court Monday on a charge she stole $70,000 from her 80-year-old mother and failed to pay for her care in an area nursing care facility.

Martha ďElizabethĒ Loftin, 55, was arrested Friday by Beaufort Police Department on a charge of felony exploitation of an elderly person. She was placed in the Carteret County Jail under a $15,000 bond and remained there Monday after her court appearance.

Police said her arrest is the result of a nearly three-month investigation into a report the department received from the Carteret County Department of Social Services in December that Elizabeth Loftinís mother, Betty Loftin, had been staying at Heritage Healthcare at Taylor Place in Sea Level since February 2011 but the facility had not received any payments for her care.

Betty Loftin passed away on March 1 at the facility.

Elizabeth Loftin was previously granted power of attorney for her mother and was receiving her motherís Social Security checks while she was at Taylor Extended Care. She was allegedly cashing the checks without using the money for her motherís care, according to a news release issued by Beaufort Police Department.

Even after Loftinís power of attorney was taken away by the court, she continued to cash her motherís Social Security checks and failed to pay Taylor Extended Care, police said.

Loftin is also accused of cashing a check her mother received from her late husbandís estate and not using it for her motherís care.

According to information from the police department, Loftin used a total of $70,000 of her motherís benefits and money for her personal use.

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